One of the most popular cakes in Japan is definitely Strawberry Shortcake. Shortcake seems originally from the States and the Japanese version is of course very similar to it. It normally has two or three layers of whte sponges and decorated with whipped fresh cream and fresh strawberries between layers and on top, but when you eat it you can tell the difference. You will find that the sponge of Japanese version is amazingly soft and light. I tried to create our beloved cake as a ‘Wagashi’ Japanese sweet.

Strawberry WA-Shortcake

I named this sweet as ‘Strawberry WA-Shortcake’. the word ‘WA’ means ‘something Japanese’ so WA-Shortcake means a Shortcake in Japanese style.

Although it looks quite like a western cake, all the parts I used for making this sweet are the materials we  use for Japanese sweets. They are made of white beans, rice flour and sugar so that it is Vegan and Gluten free.

The cream part is also Sweet White Bean cream and it is sandwiched with a little bit of Strawberry jam.

I made tiny strawberries with fresh strawberry juice to flavour and placed one of them on top of each cakes.

So, does it look like a Japanese sweet or a western cake?